Driver integrated circuit for driving display panel, display device and method for driving driver integrated circuit

ABSTRACT

A driver IC for driving a display panel, a display device and a method for driving the driver IC are provided. The driver IC is provided with N pins corresponding to N signal transmission lines of the display panel respectively. Each pin is connected to one corresponding signal transmission line through one transmission wire. The N pins include a first pin and a second pin. The transmission wires include a first transmission wire connected to the first pin and a second transmission wire connected to the second pin and having a length less than the first transmission wire. The driver IC includes a signal generation module configured to generate N driving signals. The N driving signals include a first driving signal corresponding to the first pin and a second driving signal corresponding to the second pin and having a current intensity less than the first driving signal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims a priority of the Chinese patentapplication No. 201510283818.3 filed on May 28, 2015, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of display technology, inparticular to a driver integrated circuit (IC) for driving a displaypanel, a display device, and a method for driving the driver IC.

BACKGROUND

Recently, along with the rapid development of the semiconductortechnology, portable electronic products and flat-panel display deviceshave been widely used. Thin film transistor (TFT) liquid crystaldisplays have been gradually become standard output devices for variouselectronic products due to advantages such as low operating voltage,being free of radiation, low weight and small volume. Along withincreasing integration degree of a display device such as a mobile phoneand a flat-panel computer, their thicknesses become smaller and smaller.In addition, a single-core central processing unit (CPU) has beenreplaced with a multi-core CPU, resulting in increasing powerconsumption of a system. In the market, there is an increasing demand ona battery life for the mobile phone and the flat-panel computer. Hence,there is an urgent need for system manufacturers and panel manufacturersto reduce the power consumption of the display device.

There are various display panels nowadays, e.g., liquid crystal displaypanels, light-emitting diode (LED) display panels and organiclight-emitting diode (OLED) display panels. A gate driving signal and adata driving signal need to be applied to each kind of the abovementioned display panels through a gate driver IC and a data driver IC,so as to drive the display panel to display an image.

In order to drive the display panel, usually multiple driver ICs arearranged at a non-display region of the display panel, and each driverIC corresponds to multiple signal transmission lines at a displayregion. Taking the liquid crystal display panel as an example, thesignal transmission lines are data lines or gate lines, and the driverICs are configured to apply data driving signals to the data lines orapply gate driving signals to the gate lines.

SUMMARY

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a driver IC fordriving a display panel, a display device, and a method for driving thedriver IC, so as to reduce the power consumption of the driver IC.

In one aspect, the present disclosure provides in some embodiments adriver IC for driving a display panel. The driver IC is provided with Npins, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2. The N pinscorrespond to N signal transmission lines of the display panelrespectively, and each pin is connected to one corresponding signaltransmission line through one transmission wire. The N pins include afirst pin and a second pin, and the transmission wires include a firsttransmission wire connected to the first pin and a second transmissionwire connected to the second pin and having a length less than the firsttransmission wire. The driver IC includes a signal generation moduleconfigured to generate N driving signals each corresponding to one ofthe pins. The N driving signals include a first driving signalcorresponding to the first pin and a second driving signal correspondingto the second pin and having a current intensity less than the firstdriving signal.

Optionally, the driver IC is a data driver IC or a gate driver IC.

Optionally, the signal generation module includes: a first signalgeneration unit configured to generate N initial signals; and a signaladjustment unit configured to adjust current intensities of the initialsignals in accordance with lengths of the transmission wires connectedto the pins corresponding to the initial signals, to obtain the Ndriving signals. The driving signals each have a voltage identical tothe corresponding initial signal.

Optionally, the signal adjustment unit includes: multiple voltagefollowers connected to the first signal generation unit; and a controlunit configured to determine bias currents for respective voltagefollowers in accordance with the lengths of the transmission wireconnected to the pins corresponding to the initial signals. The controlunit is configured to output a first bias current for the voltagefollower corresponding to the first pin and a second bias current forthe voltage follower corresponding to the second pin, and the first biascurrent has a current intensity greater than the second bias current.

Optionally, each voltage follower is an operational amplifier, an outputend and a reverse-phase input end of which are connected to each other.

Optionally, the control unit is a time controller.

Optionally, the N pins are divided into M groups of pins, M is aninteger greater than or equal to 2, and each pin merely belongs to onegroup. An identical bias current is outputted by the control unit to thepins in an identical group. For any two groups of pins corresponding tothe transmission wires having different average length s in the M groupsof pins, a length of a longest transmission wire corresponding to one ofthe two groups of pins is less than a length of a shortest transmissionwire corresponding to the other one of the two groups of pins, and acurrent intensity of the bias current outputted by the control unit tothe group of pins corresponding to the transmission wires having alarger average length is greater than a current intensity of the biascurrent outputted by the control unit to the group of pins correspondingto the transmission wires having a smaller average length.

Optionally, for any two of the N pins connected to the transmissionwires having different lengths, a current intensity of the drivingsignal corresponding to the pin connected to a longer transmission wireis greater than a current intensity of the driving signal correspondingto the pin connected to a shorter transmission wire.

Optionally, for any two of the N pins connected to the transmissionwires having different lengths, a current intensity of the bias currentoutputted by the control unit to the voltage follower corresponding tothe pin connected to the longer transmission line is greater than acurrent intensity of the bias current outputted by the control unit tothe voltage follower corresponding to the pin connected to the shortertransmission line.

Optionally, the N signal transmission lines are separated from eachother in a first direction, and the lengths of the transmission wiresconnected to the N signal transmission lines decrease and then increasegradually in the first direction.

In another aspect, the present disclosure provides in some embodiments adisplay device including the above-mentioned driver IC.

In yet another aspect, the present disclosure provides in someembodiments a method for driving a driver IC for a display panel. Thedriver IC is provided with N pins, and N is an integer greater than orequal to 2. The N pins correspond to N signal transmission lines of thedisplay panel respectively, and each pin is connected to onecorresponding signal transmission line through one transmission wire.The N pins include a first pin and a second pin, and the transmissionwires include a first transmission wire connected to the first pin and asecond transmission wire connected to the second pin and having a lengthless than the first transmission wire. The method includes a step ofgenerating N driving signals each corresponding to one of the pins. TheN driving signals include a first driving signal corresponding to thefirst pin and a second driving signal corresponding to the second pinand having a current intensity less than the first driving signal.

Optionally, the driver IC is a data driver IC or a gate driver IC.

Optionally, the step of generating the N driving signals includes:generating N initial signals; and adjusting current intensities of theinitial signals in accordance with lengths of the transmission wiresconnected to the pins corresponding to the initial signals, to obtainthe N driving signals. The driving signals each have a voltage identicalto the corresponding initial signal.

Optionally, the step of adjusting the current intensities of the initialsignals in accordance with the lengths of the transmission wiresconnected to the pins corresponding to the initial signals includes:determining bias currents corresponding to the N pins in accordance withthe lengths of the transmission wires connected to the pinscorresponding to the N initial signals. A current intensity of the biascurrent corresponding to the first pin is greater than a currentintensity of the bias current corresponding to the second pin.

Optionally, the step of determining the bias currents corresponding tothe N pins in accordance with the lengths of the transmission wiresconnected to the pins corresponding to the initial signals includes:dividing the N pins into M groups of pins, wherein M is an integergreater than or equal to 2, each pin merely belongs to one group, andfor any two groups of pins corresponding to the transmission wireshaving different average lengths in the M groups of pins, a length of alongest transmission wire corresponding to one of the two groups of pinsis less than a length of a shortest transmission wire corresponding tothe other one of the two groups of pins; and for any group of pins inthe M groups of pins, determining the bias current corresponding to theany group of pins in accordance with the length of the longesttransmission wire corresponding to the any group of pins, and outputtingthe determined bias current to all the pins in the any group of pins.For any two groups of pins corresponding to the transmission wireshaving different average lengths in the M groups of pins, a currentintensity of the bias current outputted to the group of pinscorresponding to the transmission wires having a larger average lengthis greater than a current intensity of the bias current outputted to thegroup of pins corresponding to the transmission wires having a smalleraverage length.

Optionally, for any two of the N pins connected to the transmissionwires having different lengths, a current intensity of the drivingsignal corresponding to the pin connected to a longer transmission wireis greater than a current intensity of the driving signal correspondingto the pin connected to a shorter transmission wire.

According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, it is able toadaptively provide different driving signals with different drivingcapabilities in accordance with different driving requirements, ratherthan to provide all the driving signals with the maximum drivingcapability, thereby reducing the power consumption while meeting thedriving requirements corresponding to the different driving signals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing transmission wires connecting adriver IC to signal transmission lines in the related technology;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a driver IC for driving a displaypanel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a signal generation module accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a first signal generation unit of agate driver IC according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is another schematic view showing a first signal generation unitof a data driver IC according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a signal adjustment unit according toan embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is another schematic view showing a signal adjustment unitaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a method for driving a driver IC according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

As shown in FIG. 1, which is a schematic view showing transmission wiresconnecting a driver IC to signal transmission lines in the relatedtechnology, there is a fanout region 102 between a driver IC 101 andsignal transmission lines 105. Transmission wires 104 are arranged atthe fanout region 102, extending from output pins 103 of the driver ICto a display region of a display panel and connecting the output pins103 of the driver IC to corresponding signal transmission lines 105.Taking a liquid crystal display panel as an example, the signaltransmission lines are gate lines or data lines, and correspondingly,gate driving signals or data driving signals are applied via thetransmission wires 104 to the signal transmission lines. Lengths of thetransmission wires 104 are not all the same.

Taking the data driving signal as an example, its voltage depends onbrightness of a pixel of an image displayed currently by the displaypanel, and its current is associated with a load. A load for the datadriving signal includes a load arranged at the display region and thetransmission wire arranged at a non-display region. Usually, loadsarranged at the display region included in loads for the data drivingsignals provided to different signal transmission lines aresubstantially the same. However, as shown in FIG. 1, the transmissionwires transmitting the data driving signals are greatly different fromeach other in their lengths, resulting in different loads.

The driving signals generated by the driver IC 101 and to be transmittedto the signal transmission lines 105 have an identical drivingcapability, i.e., an identical current intensity, but the loadscorresponding to the driving signals as well as driving requirementscorresponding to the driving signals are different from each other. Inorder to enable the driving signals to meet the different drivingrequirements, all the driving signals generated by the driver IC 101need to satisfy the maximum driving requirement. Obviously, in the casethat all the driving signals are designed according to the maximumdriving requirement, the power consumption is high.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, different driving signals areprovided with driving capabilities in accordance with different drivingrequirements, rather than to satisfy the maximum driving requirement, soas to reduce the power consumption while meet the driving requirementscorresponding to the different driving signals.

As show in FIG. 2, the present disclosure provides in some embodiments adriver IC for driving a display panel. The driver IC is provided with Npins 103, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2. The N pins103 respectively correspond to N signal transmission lines at a displayregion of the display panel, and each pin 103 is connected to onecorresponding signal transmission line through one transmission wire104. The N pins include a first pin and a second pin, and thetransmission wires 104 include a first transmission wire connected tothe first pin and a second transmission wire connected to the second pinand having a length less than the first transmission wire. The driver ICincludes a signal generation module 201 configured to generate N drivingsignals each corresponding to one of the pins. The N driving signalsinclude a first driving signal corresponding to the first pin and asecond driving signal corresponding to the second pin and having acurrent intensity less than the first driving signal.

It should be appreciated that, in the case that the display panel is aliquid crystal display panel, the signal transmission lines may be gatelines or data lines. The driver IC in the embodiments of the presentdisclosure may be a gate driver IC for applying gate driving signals tothe gate lines, or a data driver IC for applying data driving signals tothe data lines, or applied to both of them, which are detailedhereinafter.

Apart from different positions, the different data lines or gate lineshave identical features. For example, they may be manufactured by anidentical process, made of an identical material and connected toidentical elements, and the elements may have identical features. Hence,in the case that merely the loads for the driving signals at the displayregion are taken into consideration, different data lines or gate lineshave the same requirement on the driving capabilities.

However, for the driving capabilities of the driving signals, apart fromthe loads at the display region, the transmission wires arranged outsidethe display region and configured to connect the pins of the driver ICand the signal transmission lines also need to be taken intoconsideration. The longer the transmission wire, the higher the neededdriving capability of the driving signal. In the embodiments of thepresent disclosure, different driving signals are adaptively providedwith driving capabilities in accordance with different drivingrequirements, rather than to satisfy the maximum driving requirement, soas to reduce the power consumption while meet the driving requirementscorresponding to the different driving signals.

As shown in FIG. 2, the driver IC is provided with 9 pins 103corresponding to 9 transmission wires 104. The transmission wire 104 inthe middle has the smallest length, so the driving signal to betransmitted via the transmission wire 104 may require the smallestdriving capability. The leftmost and rightmost transmission wires 104each have a length far greater than the transmission wire 104 in themiddle, so the driving signals to be transmitted via the transmissionwires 104 may require the largest driving capability.

It is assumed that a driving capability of the driving signalcorresponding to the load at the display region included in the load forthe driving signal is a current intensity X, a driving capability of thedriving signal corresponding to the longest transmission wire is acurrent intensity Y, a current intensity of the driving signalcorresponding to the transmission wire in unit length is a currentintensity Z, and a length different between the shortest transmissionwire and the longest transmission wire is A. In the case that all thedriving signals are provided with the identical current intensity, thecurrent intensity may be X+Y, so as to enable all the driving signals tobe transmitted by the respective transmission wires to meet therequirements on the driving capabilities.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the driving signal to betransmitted via the shortest transmission wire has a current intensityless than X+Y, e.g., the current intensity may be set as X+Y−AZ. In thisway, it is able to reduce the power consumption while meet the drivingrequirements corresponding to the different driving signals.

In the case that the driver IC in the embodiments of the presentdisclosure meet the two conditions, i.e., (1) the driver IC is providedwith multiple pins and (2) the transmission wires connecting themultiple pins to corresponding signal transmission lines do not have anidentical length, the above-mentioned signal generation module may beused to generate driving signals of different driving capabilities, soas to reduce the power consumption.

Hence, the driver IC in the embodiments of the present disclosure may beapplied to a data driver IC or a gage driver IC for a liquid crystaldisplay panel, or a data driver IC or a scanning driver IC for an OLEDdisplay panel. Of course, it may also be applied to both of the datadriver IC and the gate driver IC for the liquid crystal display panel,or both of the data driver IC and the scanning driver IC for the OLEDdisplay panel, which are not detailed herein.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, the signal generation modulemay be provided in various forms, and one easy implementation will bedescribed hereinafter.

As shown in FIG. 3, the signal generation module includes a first signalgeneration unit configured to generate N initial signals, and a signaladjustment unit configured to adjust current intensities of the initialsignals in accordance with the lengths of the transmission wiresconnected to the pins corresponding to the initial signals, so as toobtain the N driving signals. The driving signals each have a voltageidentical to the corresponding initial signal.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, different driver ICs mayinclude different first signal generation units. Details will be givenas follows by taking the gate driver IC and the data driver IC for theliquid crystal display panel as an example.

In the case that the driver IC is applied to the gate driver IC, itfunctions as to determine on and off states of scanning lines. At thistime, as shown in FIG. 4, the first signal generation unit includes ashift register, a level shifter and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC).

After a clock period each time, the shift register may transmit a logicstate of an input stage to an output stage. Hence, at the beginning ofeach frame, a vertical scanning synchronous signal may be transmitted toa first-level shift register in accordance with a charging time perioddesired for a pixel electrode, and then time periods for the respectivelevels of shift registers in an output state may be controlled using aclock signal in the vertical direction, so as to progressively outputthe logic states for turning on or off the corresponding scanning lines.

The respective levels of shift registers may be designed in such amanner as to perform the scanning in both a direction from top to bottomand a direction from bottom to top, and usually a voltage of 3V or 5Vmay be applied by the shift registers.

The level shifter functions as to shift low logic voltages of 3V/0V or5V/0V to an on-state voltage desired for a switch TFT, e.g., greaterthan 20V, and an off-state voltage desired for the switch TFT, e.g.,smaller than −5V, so as to obtain the N initial signals for driving thescanning lines.

In the case that the driver IC is applied to the data driver IC, it isused to generate a control voltage desired for displaying an image.Hence, the first signal generation unit of the data driver IC isdifferent from that of the scanning driver IC. A basic working procedureof the data driver IC will be described as follows. Under the control ofthe shift registers whose operation time periods are controlled by ahorizontal clock signal and a horizontal scanning synchronous signal, afirst group of data registers in a closed loop may be turned on one byone, and digital video data to be displayed by the pixels correspondingto an (n-1)^(th) scanning line is stored in the first group of dataregisters.

After the data to be displayed by the pixels corresponding to onescanning line is stored in the first group of data registers, the datamay be transferred to and stored in a second group of data registers inresponse to a next horizontal scanning synchronous signal, and meanwhilethe data is converted by a DAC into corresponding pixel voltages. Inthis way, it is able to obtain the N initial signals for driving thedata lines.

Hence, as shown in FIG. 5, in the case that the driver IC is applied tothe data driver IC, the first signal generation unit includes: a shiftregister identical to that for the scanning driver IC and having anoperating frequency greater than that of the scanning driver IC; a dataregister configured to store digital data through a closed loop formedby interconnecting output ends and input ends of two phase inverters; alevel shifter configured to pull up a low level from the data shifter,e.g., from 0V-5V to 0V-14V; and a DAC configured to convert the digitaldata into analogue voltages for driving the pixel electrodes.

However, regardless of the data driver IC or the scanning driver IC, thefirst signal generation unit determines voltages of the driving signalsoutputted finally, and each of the voltages is constant.

After the voltages of the driving signals have been determined by thefirst signal generation unit, the driving capabilities of the drivingsignals depend on current intensities. In the embodiments of the presentdisclosure, the signal adjustment unit includes multiple voltagefollowers connected to the first signal generation unit, and a controlunit configured to determine bias currents for respective voltagefollowers in accordance with lengths of the transmission wires connectedto the pins corresponding to the initial signals.

The control unit outputs a first bias current for the voltage followercorresponding to the first pin, and a second bias current for thevoltage follower corresponding to the second pin, and the first biascurrent has a current intensity greater than the second bias current.Each initial signal has a voltage identical to the corresponding drivingsignal. The current intensity of the initial signal may be adjustedunder the effect of the corresponding bias current, so as to obtain thecorresponding driving signal. As shown in FIG. 6, optionally, eachvoltage follower is an operational amplifier, an output end and areverse-phase input end of which are connected.

The control unit may be a separate control chip. However, in order tofacilitate the implementation and reduce the production cost, accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control unit is atime controller (TCON).

Optionally, the voltage followers correspond to the N pins respectively,i.e., there are N voltage followers. The current intensity of thedriving signal outputted by each pin may be minimized, so as to minimizethe power consumption. In some other embodiments of the presentdisclosure, each voltage follower may correspond to multiple pins.

There is a relatively large computational burden for minimizing thecurrent intensity of the driving signal outputted by each pin, andmeanwhile the controllability of the operational amplifier is highlydemanded. In order to reduce the computational burden as well as therequirements on the operational amplifier, in some embodiments of thepresent disclosure, the pins may be divided into several groups. To bespecific, the N pins may be divided into M groups of pins, M is aninteger greater than or equal to 2, and each pin merely belongs to onegroup. An identical bias current is outputted by the control unit to thepins in an identical group. For any two groups of pins corresponding totransmission wires having different average lengths in the M groups ofpins, the length of a longest transmission wire corresponding to one ofthe two groups of pins is less than the length of a shortesttransmission wire corresponding to the other one of the two groups ofpins, and the current intensity of the bias current outputted by thecontrol unit to the group of pins corresponding to the transmissionwires having a larger average length is greater than the currentintensity of the bias current outputted by the control unit to the groupof pins corresponding to the transmission wires having a smaller averagelength. More details will be given as follows by taking each of the gatedriver IC and the data driver IC as examples.

In the case that the gate driver IC corresponds to (N1+N2+N3+N4+N5) gatelines, it may be provided with (N1+N2+N3+N4+N5) pins, and each pin maybe connected to one corresponding gate line via one transmission wire.Depending on the lengths of the transmission wires corresponding to thepins in an ascending order, the pins are numbered as a first pin, asecond pin, . . . , an (N1)^(th) pin, . . . , an (N1+N2)^(th) pin, . . ., an (N1+N2+N3)^(th) pin, . . . , an (N1+N2+N3+N4)^(th) pin, . . . , andan (N1+N2+N3+N4+N5)^(th) pin, and these (N1+N2+N3+N4+N5) pins may bedivided into 5 groups, i.e., Group 1: 1, 2, . . . , and N1; Group 2:N1+1, N1+2, . . . , and N1+N2; Group 3: N1+N2+1, N1+N2+2, . . . , andN1+N2+N3; Group 4: N1+N2+N3+1, N1+N2+N3+2, . . . , and N1+N2+N3+N4; andGroup 5: N1+N2+N3+N4+1, N1+N2+N3+N4+2, . . . , and N1+N2+N3+N4+N5.

It is found that, in any two groups, the length of a longesttransmission wire corresponding to one of the two groups of pins is lessthan the length of a shortest transmission wire corresponding to theother one of the two groups of pins.

At this time, the control unit outputs an identical bias current to thepins in an identical group.

At the display region of the display panel, apart from the positions,the different gate lines have identical features. For example, they maybe manufactured by an identical process, made of an identical materialand connected to identical elements, and the elements may have identicalfeatures. Hence, in the case that merely the loads for the drivingsignals at the display region are taken into consideration, differentgate lines have the same requirement on the driving capabilities.However, in the case that the transmission wires are taken intoconsideration, the driving signal outputted by the pin corresponding tothe longest transmission wire has the most demanding driving capability.

Hence, the minimum bias current desired for different gate lines may beset in accordance with the demanded driving capability of the drivingsignal outputted by a pin corresponding to a longest transmission wirein an identical group of pins.

Through the above design, for the group of pins corresponding to thetransmission wires having a larger average length, the larger biascurrents are outputted by the control unit.

The relationship among the bias currents, the groups of pins and thecodes of the TCON are shown in the following table.

code of serial numbers of pins in each group level of bias current TCON[1, N1] smallest 00h [N1 + 1, N1 + N2] second smallest 04h [N1 + N2 + 1,N1 + N2 + N3] intermediate 08h [N1 + N2 + N3 + 1, N1 + N2 + N3 + N4]second largest 0Ch [N1 + N2 + N3 + N4 + 1, N1 + N2 + largest 0Fh N3 +N4 + N5]

Of course, the above description is merely given by taking five groupsof pins as an example. In order to reduce the power consumption, thepins may be divided into more groups. The more the groups, the moreobviously the power consumption will be reduced.

In the case that the data driver IC corresponds to (M1+M2+M3+M4) datalines, it may be provided with (M1+M2+M3+M4) pins, and each pin may beconnected to one corresponding data line via one transmission wire.Depending on the lengths of the transmission wires corresponding to thepins in an ascending order, the pins are numbered as a first pin, asecond pin, . . . , an (M1)^(th) pin, . . . , an (M1+M2)^(th) pin, . . ., an (M1+M2+M3)^(th) pin, . . . , and an (M1+M2+M3+M4)^(th) pin, andthese (M1+M2+M3+M4) pins may be divided into 4 groups, i.e., Group 1: 1,2, . . . , and M1; Group 2: M1+1, M1+2, . . . , and M1+M2; Group 3:M1+M2+1, M1+M2+2, . . . , and M1+M2+M3; and Group 4: M1+M2+M3+1,M1+M2+M3+2, . . . , and M1+M2+M3+M4.

It is found that, in any two groups, the length of a longesttransmission wire corresponding to one of the two groups of pins is lessthan the length of a shortest transmission wire corresponding to theother one of the two groups of pins.

At this time, the control unit outputs an identical bias current to thepins in an identical group.

At the display region of the display panel, apart from the positions,the different data lines have identical features. For example, they maybe manufactured by an identical process, made of an identical materialand connected to identical elements, and the elements may have identicalfeatures. Hence, in the case that merely the loads for the drivingsignals at the display region are taken into consideration, differentdata lines have the same requirement on the driving capabilities.However, in the case that the transmission wires are taken intoconsideration, the driving signal outputted by the pin corresponding tothe longest transmission wire has the most demanding driving capability.

Hence, the minimum bias current desired for different data lines may beset in accordance with the demanded driving capability of the drivingsignal outputted by a pin corresponding to a longest transmission wirein an identical group of pins.

Through the above design, for the group of pins corresponding to thetransmission wires having a larger average length, the larger biascurrents are outputted by the control unit.

The relationship among the bias currents, the groups of pins and thecodes of the TCON are shown in the following table.

level of code of serial numbers of pins in each group bias current TCON[1, M1] smallest 00h [M1 + 1, M1 + M2] second smallest 05h [M1 + M2 + 1,M1 + M2 + M3] second largest 0Bh [M1 + M2 + M3 + 1, M1 + M2 + M3 + M4]largest 0Fh

Of course, the above description is merely given by taking four groupsof pins as an example. In order to reduce the power consumption, thepins may be divided into more groups. The more the groups, the moreobviously the power consumption will be reduced.

The present disclosure further provides in some embodiments a displaydevice including the above-mentioned driver IC. The structure and theoperating principle of the driver IC have been described hereinbefore,and thus will not be particularly defined herein. The display device maybe any product or member having a display function, such as a liquidcrystal panel, an electronic paper, a liquid crystal television, aliquid crystal display, a digital photo frame, a mobile phone or aflat-panel computer.

The present disclosure further provides in some embodiments a method fordriving a driver IC for a display panel. The driver IC is provided withN pins, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2. The N pinscorrespond to N signal transmission lines of the display panelrespectively, and each pin is connected to one corresponding signaltransmission line through one transmission wire. The N pins include afirst pin and a second pin, and the transmission wires include a firsttransmission wire connected to the first pin and a second transmissionwire connected to the second pin and having a length less than the firsttransmission wire. The method includes a step of generating N drivingsignals each corresponding to one of the pins. The N driving signalsinclude a first driving signal corresponding to the first pin and asecond driving signal corresponding to the second pin and having acurrent intensity less than the first driving signal.

Optionally, the driver IC is a data driver IC or a gate driver IC.

Optionally, the step of generating the N driving signals includes:generating N initial signals; and adjusting current intensities of theinitial signals in accordance with the lengths of the transmission wiresconnected to the pins corresponding to the initial signals, so as toobtain the N driving signals. The driving signals each have a voltageidentical to the corresponding initial signal.

The above are merely the preferred embodiments of the presentdisclosure. It should be appreciated that, a person skilled in the artmay make further modifications and improvements without departing fromthe principle of the present disclosure, and these modifications andimprovements shall also fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

1. A driver integrated circuit (IC) for driving a display panel, whereinthe driver IC is provided with N pins, N is an integer greater than orequal to 2, the N pins correspond to N signal transmission lines of thedisplay panel respectively, each pin is connected to one correspondingsignal transmission line through one transmission wire, the N pinscomprise a first pin and a second pin, and the transmission wirescomprise a first transmission wire connected to the first pin and asecond transmission wire connected to the second pin and having a lengthless than the first transmission wire, wherein the driver IC comprises asignal generation module configured to generate N driving signals eachcorresponding to one of the pins, and the N driving signals comprise afirst driving signal corresponding to the first pin and a second drivingsignal corresponding to the second pin and having a current intensityless than the first driving signal.
 2. The driver IC for driving thedisplay panel according to claim 1, wherein the driver IC is a datadriver IC or a gate driver IC.
 3. The driver IC for driving the displaypanel according to claim 1, wherein the signal generation modulecomprises: a first signal generation unit configured to generate Ninitial signals; and a signal adjustment unit configured to adjustcurrent intensities of the initial signals in accordance with lengths ofthe transmission wires connected to the pins corresponding to theinitial signals, to obtain the N driving signals, wherein the drivingsignals each have a voltage identical to the corresponding initialsignal.
 4. The driver IC for driving the display panel according toclaim 3, wherein the signal adjustment unit comprises: a plurality ofvoltage followers connected to the first signal generation unit; and acontrol unit configured to determine bias currents for respectivevoltage followers in accordance with the lengths of the transmissionwires connected to the pins corresponding to the initial signals,wherein the control unit is configured to output a first bias currentfor the voltage follower corresponding to the first pin and a secondbias current for the voltage follower corresponding to the second pin,and the first bias current has a current intensity greater than thesecond bias current.
 5. The driver IC for driving the display panelaccording to claim 4, wherein each voltage follower is an operationalamplifier, an output end and a reverse-phase input end of which areconnected to each other.
 6. The driver IC for driving the display panelaccording to claim 4, wherein the control unit is a time controller. 7.The driver IC for driving the display panel according to claim 4,wherein the N pins are divided into M groups of pins, M is an integergreater than or equal to 2, and each pin merely belongs to one group; anidentical bias current is outputted by the control unit to the pins inan identical group; and for any two groups of pins corresponding to thetransmission wires having different average lengths in the M groups ofpins, a length of a longest transmission wire corresponding to one ofthe two groups of pins is less than a length of a shortest transmissionwire corresponding to the other one of the two groups of pins, and acurrent intensity of the bias current outputted by the control unit tothe group of pins corresponding to the transmission wires having alarger average length is greater than a current intensity of the biascurrent outputted by the control unit to the group of pins correspondingto the transmission wires having a smaller average length.
 8. The driverIC for driving the display panel according to claim 4, wherein for anytwo of the N pins connected to the transmission wires having differentlengths, a current intensity of the driving signal corresponding to thepin connected to a longer transmission wire is greater than a currentintensity of the driving signal corresponding to the pin connected to ashorter transmission wire.
 9. The driver IC for driving the displaypanel according to claim 8, wherein for any two of the N pins connectedto the transmission wires having different lengths, a current intensityof the bias current outputted by the control unit to the voltagefollower corresponding to the pin connected to the longer transmissionline is greater than a current intensity of the bias current outputtedby the control unit to the voltage follower corresponding to the pinconnected to the shorter transmission line.
 10. The driver IC fordriving the display panel according to claim 1, wherein the N signaltransmission lines are separated from each other in a first direction,and the lengths of the transmission wires connected to the N signaltransmission lines decrease and then increase gradually in the firstdirection.
 11. A display device, comprising a driver integrated circuit,wherein the driver IC is provided with N pins, N is an integer greaterthan or equal to 2, the N pins correspond to N signal transmission linesof the display panel respectively, each pin is connected to onecorresponding signal transmission line through one transmission wire,the N pins comprise a first pin and a second pin, and the transmissionwires comprise a first transmission wire connected to the first pin anda second transmission wire connected to the second pin and having alength less than the first transmission wire, wherein the driver ICcomprises a signal generation module configured to generate N drivingsignals each corresponding to one of the pins, and the N driving signalscomprise a first driving signal corresponding to the first pin and asecond driving signal corresponding to the second pin and having acurrent intensity less than the first driving signal.
 12. A method fordriving a driver integrated circuit (IC) for a display panel, whereinthe driver IC is provided with N pins, N is an integer greater than orequal to 2, the N pins correspond to N signal transmission lines of thedisplay panel respectively, each pin is connected to one correspondingsignal transmission line through one transmission wire, the N pinscomprise a first pin and a second pin, and the transmission wirescomprise a first transmission wire connected to the first pin and asecond transmission wire connected to the second pin and having a lengthless than the first transmission wire, wherein the method comprises astep of generating N driving signals each corresponding to one of thepins, and the N driving signals comprise a first driving signalcorresponding to the first pin and a second driving signal correspondingto the second pin and having a current intensity less than the firstdriving signal.
 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the driverIC is a data driver IC or a gate driver IC.
 14. The method according toclaim 12, wherein the step of generating the N driving signalscomprises: generating N initial signals; and adjusting currentintensities of the initial signals in accordance with lengths of thetransmission wires connected to the pins corresponding to the initialsignals, to obtain the N driving signals, wherein the driving signalseach have a voltage identical to the corresponding initial signal. 15.The method according to claim 14, wherein the step of adjusting thecurrent intensities of the initial signals in accordance with thelengths of the transmission wires connected to the pins corresponding tothe initial signals comprises: determining bias currents correspondingto the pins in accordance with the lengths of the transmission wiresconnected to the pins corresponding to the initial signals, wherein acurrent intensity of the bias current corresponding to the first pin isgreater than a current intensity of the bias current corresponding tothe second pin.
 16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the stepof determining the bias currents corresponding to the N pins inaccordance with the lengths of the transmission wires connected to thepins corresponding to the initial signals comprises: dividing the N pinsinto M groups of pins, wherein M is an integer greater than or equal to2, each pin merely belongs to one group, and for any two groups of pinscorresponding to the transmission wires having different average lengthsin the M groups of pins, a length of a longest transmission wirecorresponding to one of the two groups of pins is less than a length ofa shortest transmission wire corresponding to the other one of the twogroups of pins; and for any group of pins in the M groups of pins,determining the bias current corresponding to the any group of pins inaccordance with the length of the longest transmission wirecorresponding to the any group of pins, and outputting the determinedbias current to all the pins in the any group of pins, wherein for anytwo groups of pins corresponding to the transmission wires havingdifferent average lengths in the M groups of pins, a current intensityof the bias current outputted to the group of pins corresponding to thetransmission wires having a larger average length is greater than acurrent intensity of the bias current outputted to the group of pinscorresponding to the transmission wires having a smaller average length.17. The method according to claim 14, wherein for any two of the N pinsconnected to the transmission wires having different lengths, a currentintensity of the driving signal corresponding to the pin connected to alonger transmission wire is greater than a current intensity of thedriving signal corresponding to the pin connected to a shortertransmission wire.